1839.] RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 253 



watches over the destinies of young men, calling upon them. 

 They then proceed with their elders to some secluded spot, 

 where each one has a front tooth knocked out, and is obliged 

 to submit to other inflictions calculated to test his courage, 

 fortitude, and powers of endurance. The ceremony differs 

 among the different tribes, and in the interior it is said that 

 the teeth are not knocked out. After their initiation, the 

 now young men are restricted in their diet, and are never al- 

 lowed to speak to or approach a female till their marriage. 



Though reserved in their dispositions, the natives have their 

 amusements, the principal one of which is the corrobory, a sort 

 of dance, in which the performers bedaub themselves with pipe 

 clay, and go through a series of saltatory motions, neither 

 very easy or graceful, round a large fire, with a monotonous 

 accompaniment chanted by themselves, and beaten by the 

 spectators upon their shields. 



They bury their dead in mounds, constructed with great 

 skill and taste, which resemble the barrows of the ancient 

 Celts. Like that people, too, the corpse is disposed with the 

 head towards the east ; though the limbs are doubled back, 

 so that the soles of the feet touch the crown of the head. 



Comparatively little is known in regard to the supersti- 

 tions of the natives. Either from their natural timidity, or 

 from a fear that it would be improper to communicate the 

 information sought, they appear unwilling to talk on the sub- 

 ject of their religion. No adults have yet embraced Christian- 

 ity ; consequently, that means of obtaining intelligence, has 

 not been possessed by the missionaries, and others who have 

 directed their attention to this subject. None of the tribes 

 appear to have a just idea of God ; and when his character 

 and attributes are explained to them, they seem unable to 

 comprehend what is said. They have some indistinct notions 

 of a Deity, or Supreme Being, called Bai-a-mai, whom, with 

 his son Burambin, they regard as the creator of all things. 

 According to their superstitious belief, Bai-a-mai resides on 

 an island beyond the sea, and lives upon fish, which come up 

 out of the water at his call. Balumbals are white angels, 



